Mrs Thembekwayo, as she is affectionately known, injured her leg two days ago. But she decides to fetch the last batch of donations on behalf of her church. The last batch is from one of the conglomerates: Phakama Holdings.
She feels like she overdid this year’s charity drive because as much as she got the word out there, she got injured while trying to move the boxes dropped outside her gate to her garage. With ageing being a reality (as she is now approaching 40), she tripped and fell consequently injuring her leg.
She wrote a note that clearly stated that delivery was between 16h30-17h30, but whoever dropped the donations off was doing so anonymously.
If only, Advocate Veli Thembekwayo, her husband, did not work overtime for a big law firm and arrived early, it would have been a different story.
But then again, his work is the reason they moved from Volkrust to Pietermaritzburg where her life changed for the better.
But at least today, the advocate, to earn husband brownie points, decided to accompany her for the last batch. He also decided to lean on the good mood his wife is in. Based on the momentum her campaign has gained, she might just build a hospital and a school next time.
They arrive at Phakama Holdings around 2:45 p.m.
Advocate Thembekwayo has an incoming call which he claims will be a quick one. Mrs. Thembekwayo, on the other hand, leaps confidently to Phakama Media as she knows Fikile, the receptionist. Fikile’s mother goes to church with Mrs. Thembekwayo and they both boast about her job at Phakama Holdings.
“Fikile” she says in a loud voice while waving her hand.
Fikile notices her and tries to wipe off her eyeliner in case she notices but the exercise seems futile.
“Mrs Thembekwayo, what brings you here?”.
“And your leg, shame man” Fikile adds pretending to sound surprised. But she knew Mrs Thembekwayo was injured as her mom had told her about it.
“Yes, why did you think I would be here on a school day.” Mrs Thembekwayo says. But she can see that Fikile is dumbfounded.
“Food, clothes, toys and toiletry donations” she continues.
“I sent you a WhatsApp yesterday” Mrs Thembekwayo adds.
Fikile suddenly remembers that she was supposed to move those donation boxes up from the basement today. And she forgot.
But then she remembers that Tim and Mrs. Thembekwayo have a particularly good relationship.
“Yes, yes, yes. I stored them safely; I’ll go fetch them”.
“But you won’t believe who’s here” she says with a beaming smile.
“Who?” Mrs Thembekwayo asks.
“Your son, Tim Tinkler”
“Really?”
“Yes, he is at the 5th-floor Meeting room 08, doing an interview which should be over by now” Fikile says knowing that will give her enough time to make sure that all the boxes are moved up. At this stage, she’s not even sure if all departments dropped off the boxes in the basement.
“Then let me take the elevator. Let Advocate Veli know once he’s done with his phone call”. Mrs. Thembekwayo says excitedly. She only speaks to Tim over the phone. It will be good to see him in person.
“Yes, I’ll do so and take your time catching up with Tim” Fikile says with a slight annoyance in her voice accompanied by a fake smile.
Mrs. Thembekwayo then decides to take the elevator.
The elevator arrives at the 5th floor. The elevator door opens.
She sees Thiwe and Tim.
“Mrs. Thembekwayo” they both shout.
“Thiwe” Mrs Thembekwayo pauses saying every word as if she's in disbelief.
“Tim” she adds surprisingly as if she did not expect to see them together. Ever. It was as if her pasts were intertwining.
“Your leg” Thiwe and Tim both say in sync leaving Jacques to feel more like a fourth wheel.
“Come in, the elevator will close” Mrs Thembekwayo says.
They all go into the elevator.
Thiwe and Tim shoot glances at each other.
“So Thiwe, how do you know Mrs. Thembekwayo?” Tim asks.
“Let me introduce you properly over coffee. I heard that they have a good coffee station here” Mrs Thembekwayo says abruptly.
“Yes, the coffee shop is on the first floor” Jacques says as he pushes the button for the first floor and ground floor.
“Thank you, Jacques. How have you been?” Mrs. Thembekwayo finally taking notice of Jacques.
“She’s from my hometown, Volkrust” Thiwe answering Tim’s earlier question unexpectedly.
That’s legit the most unexpected thing that Thiwe has done since she met Tim and Jacques.
“And your mother’s long-time friend” Mrs. Thembekwayo adds.
The elevator heads three levels down but with each level down, the ambience becomes gloomier and gloomier.
Thiwe is anxious that Mrs. Thembekwayo is here. She did not expect her to be here. She also can’t react that much as Tim is watching her every move.
The elevator finally arrives on the first floor.
Jacques holds the elevator door.
“Mrs Thembekwayo, it was lovely seeing you again. I won’t join you for coffee as I need to prep for Tim’s press release as he will be joining the Cape Blazers” Jacques says.
“Thiwe, I trust the article will be good and it was nice to meet you” He adds.
Mrs. Thembekwayo, Tim and Thiwe drop off.
They claim a small 4-seater at the corner of the Café with ample space for Mrs Thembekwayo’s injured leg. Mrs. Thembekwayo orders a rooibos tea while Thiwe orders a Chai and Tim orders green tea with a tint of lemon.
Thiwe’s anxiety leads her to be the conversation starter.
“So, Tim, how do you know Mrs Thembekwayo?” Thiwe says.
“She was my babysitter for a while when I was 14 years old. I taught her everything she knows about cricket”. Tim laughs as he hugs Mrs. Thembekwayo.
Thiwe wonders how she missed that detail. She knows a lot about Tim Tinkler. Knowing Mrs Thembekwayo loves being the centre of attention, she should have popped up in one of the good stories concerning Tim.
“Thiwe, Tim is the child I was taking care of while I was studying teaching here” Mrs Thembekwayo says.
Thiwe finally realises that Tim is the reason why she ended up taking care of her brother and growing up so fast because the most stable adult during the time decided to leave. He’s the reason why Mrs. Thembekwayo left.
Tim can see that Thiwe’s reaction is scary which is contrary to her earlier innocent charms.
“I have an assignment and an article to finish” Thiwe says with a strain in her voice.
“Tim, it was lovely meeting you in person. I won’t see you anytime soon due to your hectic schedule. All the best”
“Mrs. Thembekwayo” Thiwe nods at Mrs. Thembekwayo and leaves her seat with the chai held firmly in her hand; the only thing keeping her calm.
“Are you still coming to umpire this Saturday?” Mrs Thembekwayo asks abruptly.
“How did you know about that?” Thiwe asks snappishly.
“Okuhle goes to church with me. I told her that I needed a fill-in given my leg injury. As soon as she told me it was you, I was happy. I didn’t know you were here” Mrs Thembekwayo adds.
“I also asked Tim since it was last minute and the parents love having him around” Mrs. Thembekwayo says shooting a glance at Tim.
Thiwe freezes. How did this happen? Mrs. Thembekwayo is the teacher that Okuhle has been rambling about.
“Please join us Thiwe, it will be fun,” Tim adds.
“I will let you know”. Thiwe says coldly
She suddenly finds herself wanting to storm out of the building. As she is walking out of the building, she sees a familiar face but decides to not entertain any of the bizarre things that are happening today.
She calls a meter taxi to her residence, and it takes its time to arrive. The app had approximately fifteen minutes. Thiwe waits by the main gate of the building.
What a birthday! She thinks to herself. She finally met her “Tim Tinkler” only to find out the only mother figure in her life had abandoned her for him.
How did she miss that?
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